This movie was not horrible, but most of it wasn't very good. It is worth seeing just for the "cobra in my pants, punk" line! I could not stop laughing at that. I thought more effort should have been put into making the main character more likeable and perhaps make some of the villains a little less. Of course, if that was done, it would just be another stereotypical beat 'em up movie (which it wasn't all that far away from anyway).
8 Reviews
Probably Trimble's best lead role
Pilsung891 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Full Contact is probably Jerry Trimble's best film where he is the lead role. Now that doesn't mean it's a classic by any means. Nothing too special, but it might be worth watching on a boring day if you love fight movies.
It's typical in many ways for a low budget straight to video film. The acting is bad from everybody. The story is definitely nothing special, but it is carried out well enough. Jerry Trimble seeks revenge for his dead brother by entering an illegal fight club. What this movie is worth seeing for is some very intense kick-boxing action. The action is brutal, intense, and nicely choreographed. And it's pretty realistic for kick-boxing. Nothing too flashy or obviously fake. Other than that there's nothing worth mentioning. If you're an action fan, give it a try on a rainy day. If you don't like action, don't get it.
It's typical in many ways for a low budget straight to video film. The acting is bad from everybody. The story is definitely nothing special, but it is carried out well enough. Jerry Trimble seeks revenge for his dead brother by entering an illegal fight club. What this movie is worth seeing for is some very intense kick-boxing action. The action is brutal, intense, and nicely choreographed. And it's pretty realistic for kick-boxing. Nothing too flashy or obviously fake. Other than that there's nothing worth mentioning. If you're an action fan, give it a try on a rainy day. If you don't like action, don't get it.
In the end, Full Contact is better than you might think.
tarbosh220008 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Luke Powers (Trimble) is a self-described "farm boy" who journeys to the dark underbelly of L. A. to get to the truth about his murdered brother. It turns out that Luke's bro was heavily involved in "Alley Fights" (what we call Punchfighting). To achieve his goal, he links up with Pep (Aurelius), a fight trainer/alcoholic/Art of War quote enthusiast. Romance blooms with dancer Tori (Buick, whose only other feature film role is the same year's Angelfist). Will Luke be able to summon all of his POWERS to beat the baddies and find out what really happened to his sibling? And who is REALLY behind all this alley-fighing stuff? Make FULL CONTACT with your remote control and find out today...
Not to be confused with the prior year's Full Contact starring Chow Yun-Fat and Simon Yam, THIS Full Contact is a moment in time for fan favorite Jerry Trimble to shine. It all opens with textbook Punchfighting as enthusiastic fans scream, yell, and clutch cash in their hands as they enjoy said punching in an abandoned warehouse.
The whole thing has a very Corman feel, as he's done this plot numerous times before, i.e. Bloodfist, Dragon Fire, Bloodfist 2050, etc. There's also at least one scene in a strip club, which was a Corman trademark/obsession around this time period. Happily, we can report that Full Contact is one of the better run-throughs of this plotline. There's plenty of sax and synth on the soundtrack, there's ridiculously stupid dialogue (in a good way), wacky situations, and punching, punching, punching. Characters, mainly Trimble, jumpkick their opponents in slow motion as they just stand there waiting to be kicked in the head. Somehow, against all odds, this all gels in the world of Full Contact.
Trimble is great as he resembles a melange of Emilio Estevez, Sean Penn, and Kirk Douglas. Tori's initial dance routine is gold, and when she meets Luke Powers, both of them are clad head-to-toe in denim and they have long blonde hair. It's clearly a match made in 1993 heaven.
It starts to run out of steam when the tournament fighting begins about two-thirds of the way through, but we do give Full Contact full credit because they actually bothered to include a twist towards the end, which a lot of similar films never bothered to do. There's also the time-honored barfight. Plus, there's an utterly ridiculous stick fight near a dumpster, and Powers's main training goal is to outrun a city bus with a wacky bus driver.
Director Rick Jacobson, no stranger to this sort of material, also worked as a fight coordinator on the film, and has a cameo as "Bar Heckler". Early appearances from Michael Jai White and Reginald VelJohnson round things out nicely. VelJohnson plays "Fighter #2", so if you've ever wanted to see Carl Winslow engaging in illegal alley fights, now's your chance.
The end titles song is "Sometimes You've Got To Fight", credited to no performer. The singer has an odd, quavering voice. Charles Philip Moore is one of the writers, who has a writer/director pedigree in the action field.
In the end, Full Contact is better than you might think. It's not intelligent, but it's entertaining. And that's the important thing.
Not to be confused with the prior year's Full Contact starring Chow Yun-Fat and Simon Yam, THIS Full Contact is a moment in time for fan favorite Jerry Trimble to shine. It all opens with textbook Punchfighting as enthusiastic fans scream, yell, and clutch cash in their hands as they enjoy said punching in an abandoned warehouse.
The whole thing has a very Corman feel, as he's done this plot numerous times before, i.e. Bloodfist, Dragon Fire, Bloodfist 2050, etc. There's also at least one scene in a strip club, which was a Corman trademark/obsession around this time period. Happily, we can report that Full Contact is one of the better run-throughs of this plotline. There's plenty of sax and synth on the soundtrack, there's ridiculously stupid dialogue (in a good way), wacky situations, and punching, punching, punching. Characters, mainly Trimble, jumpkick their opponents in slow motion as they just stand there waiting to be kicked in the head. Somehow, against all odds, this all gels in the world of Full Contact.
Trimble is great as he resembles a melange of Emilio Estevez, Sean Penn, and Kirk Douglas. Tori's initial dance routine is gold, and when she meets Luke Powers, both of them are clad head-to-toe in denim and they have long blonde hair. It's clearly a match made in 1993 heaven.
It starts to run out of steam when the tournament fighting begins about two-thirds of the way through, but we do give Full Contact full credit because they actually bothered to include a twist towards the end, which a lot of similar films never bothered to do. There's also the time-honored barfight. Plus, there's an utterly ridiculous stick fight near a dumpster, and Powers's main training goal is to outrun a city bus with a wacky bus driver.
Director Rick Jacobson, no stranger to this sort of material, also worked as a fight coordinator on the film, and has a cameo as "Bar Heckler". Early appearances from Michael Jai White and Reginald VelJohnson round things out nicely. VelJohnson plays "Fighter #2", so if you've ever wanted to see Carl Winslow engaging in illegal alley fights, now's your chance.
The end titles song is "Sometimes You've Got To Fight", credited to no performer. The singer has an odd, quavering voice. Charles Philip Moore is one of the writers, who has a writer/director pedigree in the action field.
In the end, Full Contact is better than you might think. It's not intelligent, but it's entertaining. And that's the important thing.
An awesome low-budget movie that I'd never heard of!
jooillim26 May 2006
This is my new favorite eighties/nineties kickboxing movie. It's clearly a Corman knock-off of earlier brother avenges brother efforts, but it's head and shoulders above most of the crumby video fodder that was being fed to the hungry market at the time.
Jerry Trimble is good as the kickboxing hayseed who comes to LA to find his brother, but Marcus Aurelius steals the show as Pep, the Art of War spouting trainer who befriends Luke. Watching these two train, fight, and of course bond, was surprisingly effective, considering how badly written and acted most of these cheapy fight vehicles were at the time.
This flick is pure comic book fun as Luke and Pep fight their way up the ladder of villainous opponents to the championship-and the truth of Luke's brother's death. Beverly Grey (writer) and Rick Jacobson (director) set up each opponent, so each fight has special meaning. This movie really delivers on the awesome fights. It's non-stop, yet stylistic. Kudos to the editor (Lawrence Maddox) because this thing moves. Jacobson has real flair here, and the final fight, even if you saw it coming, is a blast.
If you know this genre, you'll recognize many of the much used locations from other Corman flicks. But somehow, they're grittier here. Probably made for WAY under a million, this is much better than any of the Don Wilson efforts made for more money. Show this to the kids at USC, because this film is a primer on how to get it done cheap. A gem.
Jerry Trimble is good as the kickboxing hayseed who comes to LA to find his brother, but Marcus Aurelius steals the show as Pep, the Art of War spouting trainer who befriends Luke. Watching these two train, fight, and of course bond, was surprisingly effective, considering how badly written and acted most of these cheapy fight vehicles were at the time.
This flick is pure comic book fun as Luke and Pep fight their way up the ladder of villainous opponents to the championship-and the truth of Luke's brother's death. Beverly Grey (writer) and Rick Jacobson (director) set up each opponent, so each fight has special meaning. This movie really delivers on the awesome fights. It's non-stop, yet stylistic. Kudos to the editor (Lawrence Maddox) because this thing moves. Jacobson has real flair here, and the final fight, even if you saw it coming, is a blast.
If you know this genre, you'll recognize many of the much used locations from other Corman flicks. But somehow, they're grittier here. Probably made for WAY under a million, this is much better than any of the Don Wilson efforts made for more money. Show this to the kids at USC, because this film is a primer on how to get it done cheap. A gem.
Unoriginal But Entertaining
tyler1981burton5 March 2004
This movie is based on the same Robert King's story as "Bloodfist" and "Dragon Fire". If you saw either one of those movies and are looking for an original martial arts flick, look again. All three movies follow exactly the same plot. "Dragon Fire" tried to update the story with a futuristic backdrop. This movie simply remakes "Bloodfist" with a much smaller budget and a white lead. Having said that, this movie is not worse than most low-budget American-made martial arts flicks. It follows the same scenario as half of those films -- a noble fighter decides to enter no-holds-barred-tournament to avenge his brother or best friend. While praparing for the tournament he dates a stripper and befriends her mentally retarded brother. Robert King's story has a twist in the end, related to the identity of the killer. The twist is not too unexpected though. Basically, if you like formulaic b-movies where beefy, shirtless, sweaty men beat each other senseless, you will probably enjoy this one a lot.
Not a bad movie. Why hasn't anybody commented on it?
Karthik31 May 1999
Jerry Trimble stars as Luke Powers in this action movie (which is actually a remake of "Bloodfist"). He arrives in L.A., only to find that his brother, who used to take part in "back-alley" fights, has been murdered. In order to find the killer, he becomes a fighter himself. Marcus Aurelius stars as Pep, the man who trains Luke to fight. 1993's "Dragon Fire" (Starring Dominic Labanca, Dir: Rick Jacobson) also has the same story, but this movie is better. The fight scenes are good. I gave this 8/10.
Very Good Some of Trimble's Best Work and Team
glovepiano20 November 2022
Great to see Prouder, Jackson and most of all before he was a martial arts movie superstar Michael White whose stunts are still a cut above everyone in many of his films. Btw, I got a kick out of guy whose review said "okay I have never actually seen full contact". Geez dude, just pull up youtube and watch us from back in the day in the P. K. A. And W. K. A.
Btw, I have been occasional sparing partner for Trimble, Grip, etc and all of Asa's boxers and fought in the P. K. A. Great times with a great trainer Asa.
Oh yea, and Trimble used to beat up his sparring partner's if you weren't a big name. Except Asa's boxers. Lol. Like Joe Corely he was wary of them. I was training with Asa downtown before any other karate point fighters because Guro Dan Inosanto (via Bruce Lee) said to find a great boxing coach to learn full contact karate. This was above the "Seed and Feed" warehouse on Marietta St. Was there and watched Corely come in for the 1st time and get knocked out by one of Asa's boxers in the ring dancing around and trying to hit him with back-knuckles.
This was the infancy of full contact karate. To his credit he came back and trained hard for years to become a great kickboxer and fought Superfoot !!! Lost because they would not give him the timeout he tried to call when he was a bit dazed. Lol Great times. Watch the movie and you will see legitimate superstars of REAL full contact kickboxing !!!
Btw, I have been occasional sparing partner for Trimble, Grip, etc and all of Asa's boxers and fought in the P. K. A. Great times with a great trainer Asa.
Oh yea, and Trimble used to beat up his sparring partner's if you weren't a big name. Except Asa's boxers. Lol. Like Joe Corely he was wary of them. I was training with Asa downtown before any other karate point fighters because Guro Dan Inosanto (via Bruce Lee) said to find a great boxing coach to learn full contact karate. This was above the "Seed and Feed" warehouse on Marietta St. Was there and watched Corely come in for the 1st time and get knocked out by one of Asa's boxers in the ring dancing around and trying to hit him with back-knuckles.
This was the infancy of full contact karate. To his credit he came back and trained hard for years to become a great kickboxer and fought Superfoot !!! Lost because they would not give him the timeout he tried to call when he was a bit dazed. Lol Great times. Watch the movie and you will see legitimate superstars of REAL full contact kickboxing !!!
Great cover
Hammygoodness21 January 2005
Okay, so I've never actually seen Full Contact, but I've been so close to renting it on many occasions. And all because of the cover of this video. Come on, look at that package! This is the most blatant depiction of male camel toe that I've yet seen on a movie cover. I will certainly see this eventually.
Above and beyond the tight, tight shorts are the facial expressions and bad techniques evident. Right on the cover! They actually are using these images to PROMOTE the film. The marketing for this movie is incredible.
Of course, this movie was made during the mad rush of Americanizing martial arts films. The late 80's and early 90's were the worst time period for these cookie cutter movies. So I imagine the actual film itself is much the same as all the rest: bad. But I give the cover an A+ for sheer gall in displaying genitalia so prominently.
Above and beyond the tight, tight shorts are the facial expressions and bad techniques evident. Right on the cover! They actually are using these images to PROMOTE the film. The marketing for this movie is incredible.
Of course, this movie was made during the mad rush of Americanizing martial arts films. The late 80's and early 90's were the worst time period for these cookie cutter movies. So I imagine the actual film itself is much the same as all the rest: bad. But I give the cover an A+ for sheer gall in displaying genitalia so prominently.
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